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(Hypertension. 2006;47:329.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial Commentaries

Blood Pressure Reactivity to Psychological Stress

A New Risk Factor for Coronary Disease?

Redford B. Williams

From Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.

Correspondence to Redford B. Williams, MD, Box 3926, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710. E-mail redfordw@duke.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

The report by Matthews et al¹ in this issue of Hypertension that increased systolic blood pressure reactivity while playing a video game predicts increased incidence of having some coronary calcification 13 years later is consistent with prior research they cite showing associations between cardiovascular reactivity to acute stress and various indices of atherosclerotic disease in human and animal studies. What sets this report apart from the prior research, however, is (1) the prediction of increased coronary artery calcification by blood pressure (BP) reactivity in a large, diverse sample of healthy young adults; (2) the demonstration that this prediction is independent of resting blood pressure and other established coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors measured at the same time; and (3) the demonstration that the prediction is not mediated by interim development of hypertension or the metabolic syndrome.

The authors are appropriately cautious in noting that final appraisal of the full implications of their findings will depend on results obtained when "BP reactivity protocols are added to future epidemiological protocols." As one who has previously joined with other behavioral and social science advocates in what seemed, in many cases, to be an uphill battle to convince those in charge of designing large-scale prospective epidemiological studies of CHD risk factors (including the Coronary Artery Risk Development In young Adults [CARDIA] study) to include assessment of cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) to psychological stress, I cannot suppress a strong "I told you so!" on encountering these findings by Matthews et al. Yes, let us see . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Article:

Blood Pressure Reactivity to Psychological Stress and Coronary Calcification in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study

Karen A. Matthews, Sha Zhu, Diane C. Tucker, and Mary A. Whooley
Hypertension 2006 47: 391-395. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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